SMH - Paddy Manning - 19.11.2011

The federal Minister for Energy, Martin Ferguson, is often criticised but he’s right about this: the coal seam gas industry has grown too fast.
We have not done our homework before issuing approvals for this $50 billion-plus export industry – on the possible groundwater and land-use impact, on what to do with the millions of tonnes of salt left over, or the impact on Gladstone harbour and the Great Barrier Reef.

As it happened, a fortnight ago APPEA did finally release its own full, original report by Worley.
…….At worst, if burned in the least efficient ”peaking” open-cycle turbines, coal seam gas was up to 44 per cent dirtier than the newest, most efficient coal-fired plant.

Some media focused on the previously unreleased information, including less flattering gas-versus-coal scenarios. It’s now online. On Tuesday the Merrill Lynch oil and gas analyst David Heard weighed in with a six-page note to clients titled: ”Green gas debate: who is hiding the fugitives?” It pulls the APPEA report apart.